About

Jess is a freelance editorial professional with 15 years of experience in writing, editing, and content strategy for lifestyle publications and corporate brands. Her favorite work resides at the intersection of design, lifestyle, and the environment.

Fascinated by human nature, Jess is always on the hunt for people with unique and inspiring stories, believing strongly in the power of reporting and the responsibility of journalists to inspire smarter, healthier, low-impact living. A fan of reinvented materials, minimalism, the sharing economy, and locavore everything, Jess is most passionate about making the connection between environmental choices and personal health. People living in unconventional (but modern) planet-friendly ways inspire her the most.

Jess is a contributing editor for Sunset magazine, where she was on staff for nine years before the costs of San Francisco Bay Area living drove her to the Northwest. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, San Francisco magazine, Anthology, and on Ozy.com, NPR.org, Lonny, and Gardenista. Last year she was the consulting editor for the book The Power of Zero: Learning from the World’s First Net Zero Energy Buildings (Ecotone Publishing). Jess has been a guest curator for Etsy, Design*Sponge, and Airbnb. She's been a featured speaker at conferences like Altitude Design Summit and has appeared on national broadcast programs, most notably The Today Show.

One piece Jess is particularly proud of is her 2011 article for Sunset entitled "The Zero-Waste Home," which garnered more reader feedback than any single story in the history of the publication (est. 1898) and sparked a national dialogue about consumerism in America.

Often on the road, Jess loves exploring cities/neighborhoods/spaces/wilderness, always hunting down expertly curated independent design shops and boutique motels as well as discovering the next local tastemaker/influencer/game-changer and the best small batch coffee bean roastery (her fuel of choice). She relishes finding herself in a remote location that’s out of cell phone range (or sometimes just pretends it is).

Both Daily Candy and Thrillist have named her a top Instagramer to follow. Get a look at her mobile photography and adventures here.